Susan Blanton

University of Miami, USA

Susan Blanton received her Ph.D. degree in human genetics from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1985. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow in biostatistics, with Aravinda Chakarvarti, at the University of Pittsburgh and in population oncology, with Baruch Blumberg, at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Blanton's research has focused on the mapping of Mendelian and complex diseases. Deafness, retinal disorders, skeletal dysplasias, cleft lip/palate, and club foot are among the diseases which she currently studies. She has also been involved in developing and implementing genetic education materials for Federal and appellate level judges and science writers in an ELSI sponsored project. Her current research also involves developing a model for the implementation of genomic medicine as well as determining the level of genetic knowledge and attitudes toward genetic testing among the deaf. Since the beginning of 2005, she has been an Associate Professor of human genetics at the University of Miami and is the Chief of the Division of Genomic Medicine. In addition, she is an Associate Director of Communications and Compliance at the Miami Institute for Human Genomics and is the Project Coordinator for the Genomedical Connection, a genomic medicine initiative. Blanton is a Standing Member of the NIH NINDS-NST study section.